The chest harnesses disclosed in the prior art, with the relegation of pulling or driving horses to be background, were developed primarily for dogs, as they are an ideal solution for leading a dog on a leash, holding it back, and for distributing the pressure caused by the acting forces.
The chest harnesses found in the prior art are dog harnesses comprising leather and/or textile straps, padded on the back part, chest part and belly part of the dog in a fixed, or sometimes in a releasable manner. These dog chest harnesses are also called “saddle-harnesses”, when the padded part resting on the back of the dog covers the back like a saddle. The purpose of padding is to distribute the pressure, to stabilize the straps, and to allow the attachment and display of additional equipment (e.g. bag, light, GPS or camera devices) and/or graphic elements, high visibility colours, labels on the padding itself, or on the cover thereof. The straps covering the belly part and the chest bone part (comparable to the chest strap and the belly strap components of the present invention) are subjected to increased stress when the dog is lead on a leash, or during training and police work. On dog chest harnesses according to the prior art, these straps are fixed together, incapable of stretching (form-stable) to any substantial extent. They are made by weaving processes (by interlacing warp yarns and weft yarns) used regularly in the textile industry, usually from synthetic (PE, PP, PA) fibres. These straps retain their length under load. Their stretchability or elasticity is far below that of rubber, silicone or elastomer materials, and their stretching leads to a permanent reduction in load-bearing capacity, or breaking. In fact, the bones of developing young dogs especially need to be spared from strong impacts. This includes even the load resulting from the daily walk on a leash. The padding of the chest strap and/or the belly strap is only a partial solution, because a sudden force, a shock-like load on the straps, is not sufficiently reduced by the padding material.
The chest straps of dog harnesses preferably consist of at least two parts, but there are also undivided, non-adjustable chest straps made of one strap connecting the two sides of the harness and also the two ends of the back strap in continuation thereof.
A common chest strap design for dog harnesses is one that is divided into two main parts, adjustable by a hook-and-loop fastener by threading through a fastener/slide adjuster. This is a Hungarian development from 1997, and was introduced into regular use first for Austrian, then for German service dog units under the name “K9-Powerharness” (DE302009060989). As the name of the device already suggests, it was designed for high loads occurring, especially in the case of dogs. The success of the dog harness lies in being practical such as being quick to put on and take off.
In such a known dog harness, the chest strap, attached to the connection point of the back strap and/or the belly strap in continuation thereof on one side of the dog harness, ends in a cut edge, while on the other side, it preferably ends in an oval fastener/slide adjuster. The cut edge section of the chest strap is positioned for use by threading it through this fastener/slide adjuster and closing on itself. Thus in this case, the chest strap is divided into two parts, one section on one side of the dog harness, extending from the connection point of the belly strap and/or back strap, which is the chest strap part holding the fastener/slide adjuster, while another section on the other side of the dog harness is threaded through the fastener/slide adjuster during use. This adjustable chest strap section extends from the connection point of the adjustable-length chest strap part and the back strap and/or the belly strap and is equipped with a hook and loop fastener so it can close on itself. In the prior art, pressure distributors for chest straps are attached to the hook-and-loop fastener of the adjustable-length chest strap part, the adjustable-length chest strap part of the chest strap closing on itself, and/or to the chest strap itself, by threading onto it.
Utility model No. U10 00003, disclosing a chest pad made of a foam material, describes a pressure distributor that is not only threaded onto the chest strap of a chest harness, but is also attached to the hook-and-loop fastener thereof. The chest pad makes it much easier for the dog to tolerate being lifted, e.g., by the handle fixed on the harness. In the event of a sudden load in the direction of movement, the chest of the dog is supported by the whole width of the surface of the chest pad, but it will not stretch to a given extent. Therefore its load-absorbing capacity is low.
Utility model No. U11 00245, disclosing a so called “I”-strap, also describes the padding of the chest, or the chest strap of the dog harness, as well as the dog collar. This pressure distribution device is mounted on the chest strap in a releasable manner, perpendicular to the chest strap and connected to the chest strap and the belly strap of the harness. At the same time, it can be connected to the collar as well. The significance of the device is that, by fixing three points together, the use of the harness becomes safer, for example, for service/assault dogs, as it prevents the chest strap of the dog harness from sliding down towards the forelegs of the dog during vigorous movement. However, it does not affect to a large extent the load on the chest part and the shoulder joints of the animal. Nevertheless, the significance of the device is indisputable, as the “I”-strap was the first elastic pressure distribution element mountable on dog chest harnesses in a releasable manner, since it is connected to the collar by means of a rubber ring. The limitation of stretching was not implemented for the elastic portion connected to the dog collar. The development and spread of pressure distribution devices mountable on dog chest harnesses among hobby dog owners clearly proves that there is a demand for such products, and in fact their use solves a major problem. In the case of pulling harnesses made for horses, there are no known elastic pressure distribution elements, operated/fastened by means of a hook-and-loop fastener and rubber solution.
The disadvantage of all three devices described above however, is that, to use them, the hook-and-loop fasteners need to be opened/closed, and the chest strap also needs to be partially opened. The dog chest harness known in the prior art, due to its chest strap being incapable of elastic stretching, cannot be used for mammals having a chest with a genetically different anatomy from that of dogs. Harnesses can and should be used for cats and even for rabbits kept as pets, as the use of a collar can choke the animal. For safely securing the harness, the animal should be prevented from jumping or stepping over the chest strap with its forelegs. This risk exists not only in the case of cats and rabbits, but some agile dog breeds as well. The harnesses used in the prior art for such animals are not chest harnesses, and therefore, they are more complicated to put on and take off, even if quick release buckles are used as fixing elements.
Patent No. US2007/0034164A1 discloses a development where, on the chest part of an elastic harness, to be used only for dogs, the continuity of the load-bearing (non-elastic) straps is interrupted by an elastic insert. The biggest disadvantage of such a development is that no element covering the elastic elements, limiting their stretching, is provided for the dog harness, to perform a load-bearing function, and to limit the stretching of the elastic portion. Therefore, permanent and deforming stretching of the elastic portion is inevitable, and its breakage can be avoided only by using oversized, excessively thick elastic elements.